With the advent of the Internet, a common problem associated with Internet usage is an excessive amount of time spent by users surfing the Internet in general or particular Internet sites such as chat rooms, shopping sites, and the like. Often users connect to the Internet and simply lose track of the amount of time they have spent browsing various Internet sites or the amount of time they have spent connected to a particular Internet site. This problem is particularly bothersome for parents or guardians of children or young adults who are concerned with the amount of time spent by those users connected to the Internet.
Systems have been used for controlling the amount of time a user is connected to the Internet whereby the Internet browser application in use by the user “times-out” and prevents the user from connecting to the Internet after a prescribed amount of time. Unfortunately such systems are easily circumvented by the user such as when the user downloads a different Internet browser application not controlled by the timing control mechanism in place on the user's system.
There is a need in the art for a method and system for allowing control of the amount of time a user spends connected to the Internet or to particular Internet sites that may not be easily circumvented by the user. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.